Lumber-stacker.



G. A. BAKER @L F. nu VALL.

LUMBER STACKER.

vAPPLICATION FILED JUNE 17| 191.5.

Patented J une 20, 1916.

sHEETs-SHEET l.

EXW.

A Tron/vf r G. A. BAKER L F. nu VALL.

LUMBE'R lsTAcKER. `AFPLICAUON FILED lUNlEn'i 7,41915.`

Patented June 20, 1916.

1 sHEET-SHEET 2.

Nw um @t G. A, BAKER L F. DU VALL.

LUMBER STACKER.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 17. |915.

Patented June 20, 1916.

' 1 SHEETS- SHEET 3.

WIT/VESSES: /NVE/I/TORS A UUR/vf rs G. A. BAKER & F. DU VALL.

LUIVIBER STACKER.

7 SHEETS-SHEET 4- Para GA. BAKER & F. DU VALL.

LUMBER STACKER..v

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 17 |915r Patented June 20, 1916.

7 SHEETS-SHEET 5.

Wl T/VESSS:

A TTOR/VEYS G. A. BAKER XL F. DU VALL.

LUIVIBER STACKER.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 17. |915.

' Patented June 20, 1916.

7 SHEETS-SHEET 6.

DDDDDDUDDDDDL'UUD S-IDUIINDDNIDDIWDD D G. A. BAKER & F. Dl] VALL.

LUMBER STACKER.

APPLlcATmN FILED JUNE H. 1915.

Patented June 20, 1916.

7 SHEETS-SHEET I.

A TTU/M1578 GEORGE A. BAKER, OF CAMDEN, ND FRANK DU VLL, 0F GRYSONIA, SS.

LUMBEn-s'racnnn..

Specification of Letters Patent. Pmtgnjbedl Jun@ 2, ygijlqa Application filed J une 17, 1915. Serial No. 34,651.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that we, GEORGE A. BAKER and FRANK DU VALL, citizens of the United States, residing at Camden, in the county of Ouachita and State of Arkansas, and Graysonia, in the county of Clark and State of Arkansas, respectively, have made certain new and useful Improvementsin Lumber-Stackers, of which the following is a specification.

rlfhis invention relates generally to automatic apparatus for stacking lumber for transportation to lumber drying or treating kilns, and more particularly to an apparatus of the nature described and claimed in our copending application No. 865706, filed October 8, 1914.

The primary object of our present invention is to provide a Wholly automatic arrangement in which the stack is stationary during formation, the automatic mechanism for placing the lumber thereon and the spacing sticks between the lumber, being movable vertically as each tier or layer of lumber is completed, with respect to the stack.

Further objects, and their resulting advantages, inhere in the changes and additions of various natures in respect to the construction, arrangement and operation of our lumber stacker above referred to, all as hereinafter clearly described with reference to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this application, and in which,

Figure 1 is a horizontal section through the upper portion of the frame of our present apparatus, showing in top plan the various operating parts. Fig. 2 is a front elevation thereof. Fig. 3 is a side elevation thereof. Fig. 4 is a detail perspective view of certain parts of the mechanism for placing the spacing sticks. Fig. 5 is a detail vertical section taken therethrough substantially on line 5 5 of Fig. 1. Fig. 6 is a similar view taken therethrough substantially on line 6--6 of Fig. 5. Fig. 7 is a detail plan view of the parts shown in Fig. 6. Fig. 8 is a detail perspective view illustrating the automatic controlling parts. Fig. 9 is a similar view illustrating the parts for elevating the carriage and, Figs. 10, 11` and 12 are detail sectional views respectively showing the position of the stacking parts at the end of one tier, during elevati?? ing movement of the carriage between stacking operations, and at the beginning of the neXt stacking operation.

Referring now to the drawings, in which simllar numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several figures, and particularly to Figs. 2 and 3, four upright columns 15 constituting vertical guide rods are rigidly bolted at their lower extremities to lower cross beams 16 constituting supporting sills, and are similarly connected at their upper ends to upper cross beams 16, the rigid connections between columns 15 land beams 16 and 16, being indicated at A carriage is movably mounted intermediate the several columns 15 and is guided in its movement thereby, the carriage in this instance consisting of an upper rigid rectangular frame 18 and lower side beams 113, the upper frame 18 and the said side beams 113 being connected by rigid uprights 123, and, as best seen by reference to Figs. 1 and 3, the lower side beams 113 'are projected forwardly beyond the forward guiding uprights 15 and are there joined by a transverse beam 110 supporting an intermediate bracket 111 through which a pair of parallel transverse shafts 114 and 114a are eX- tended, the ends of these shafts being jourmovable vertically above the usual car orv truck 20 and in respect thereto, the car 20 being movable into and out of the spa-ce beneath the carriage, `upon tracks 21 supported by the lower beams or sills 16 as most plainly seen by reference to Figs. 2 and 3. The track 21 may thus lead without interruption to the kiln or other, apparatus in which the stack of lumber upon the car 2O is to be transported after formation of the stack within our improved machine.

. The elevating mechanism for the carriage consists of brackets 23 which depend and outstand from the upper frame 18 of the carriage, and the tubular bearings 24 which, as best seen in Figs. 2 and 3, serve to rotatably hold portions of bevel gears 25a threaded upon the upright screw shafts25, the leiter .being rigidly connected at their upper and lower ends t0 the upper and lower frame beams 16a and 16 respectively, so that 'when the bevel gears 25a are rotated, the

carriage is forcedr to rise or lower, dependent upon the direction of such rotation.

The delivery conveyer for initially deliv-v ering the lumberto the stacking apparatus consists of chains 32 as best seen in Fig. 1, which, as will be seen by reference to Fig. 2,

lead to sprocket wheels 32a upon the shaft` 114 before mentioned, this shaft also having.

sprocket wheels connected by short chains 30 vto similar sprocket wheels upon the shaft 114a and thus constituting a second conveyer.

As will be seen by reference to Figs. 10, 11 and. 12, the conveyer chains -30 and 32 are provided with upstanding spurs 31 and 33, which are adapted to contact with the rear extremities of the boards or planks B to be stacked,in order to move the same into'the stacking apparatus and onto the car or truck 20, the inner portion of the short conveyer being beneath the forward endof the spacing and arranging conveyer 37 as also shown in this ligure. This spacing and arranging` are delivered beneath the spacing and ar ranging conveyer chains 37 by the short,

chains 30. This spacing and arranging conveyer is driven by a chain 43, the lower end4 of which extendsto a sprocket wheel upon the rearmost shaft 38, as seen 1n Fig. 3, and the upper end of which. extends around the sprocket wheel of a counter shaft 45 having a friction ywheel 46 intermittently driven by .the frictiongear 47 of a shaft 4.8, the latter being connected to the main driven shaft 49 by means of a belt 50, all as plalnlyseen in Fig. 1,the several shafts mentioned, be-

'ing supported in the upper frame 18 of the carriage,4 to move vertically with the carriage. The shaft 48 is mounted at one end within a pivot bearing 52, and at'its oppo- I Isite end within a shiftable bearing 53 permitting the gear 47 Ato Ibe engaged with and disengaged from the friction wheel 46.'

The Vmeshing ofthe friction members 46 and 47 thus resultsin the actuation of the A spacing and arranging conveyer, and in order to properly time and control the movement of this conveyer, a 'bell crank lever 54 is pivotally mounted upon the forward con-v veyer.. shaft 38 and has its upper endcon- *A nected by a link 55 to the bell crank lever 56 having, as best vseen in Fig. 8, a slotted arm 57, which-as' seen in Fig. 1 engages a pin 58 carried by the bearing 53. The lower portion of the lever 54 extends into the path of movement of the boards as they are projected beneath the forward portion of the spacing and arranging conveyer by means of the conveyer chains 30, and the first board or plank striking the lower end of lever 54 lifts the same, pulling downwardly upon the link 55 and rocking the bell crank lever 57 in order to shift the bearing 53 and thrust friction gear 47 into engagement with the friction wheel-46, thus connecting the shaft 45 with the driven shaft 49 and transmitting rotation to the spacing and arranging conveyer. During rotation of the conveyer 37, its engaging spurs 40 will separatelyv engage and contact with the rear edges of the successive boards, and, being spaced apartadistance greater than the width of the boards, will move the same across the car or truck 20, in spaced orderly relation as best seen by reference to Fig. 10. The movement of the several planks across the car or truck 20 is intermittent, however, as the lever 54 drops upon the passage of each board thereunder and a spring 56a in Figs. 1 and 8 rocks the bell crank lever 56 and thus shifts bearn 53 to disengage the friction members 46 'and 47. The chains 30 and 32 are also intermittently driven by means of a sprocket chain 130, as seen in Fig. 3, the lower end of which is connected to a sprocket wheel, extending around the shaft 114, and the 'upper end of which is extended around the sprocket wheel 131 of a shaft 132 upon which is a friction wheel I133. With this friction wheel 133 is adapted to mesh a friction gear 134 mounted upon one end of a shaft 135 connected to the main driven' shaft 49 Y by a belt 136, as plainly seen in Fig. .1, one end of shaft 135 being mounted in a pivot bearing 137 and its opposite end being mounted ina shiftable same upon the rear shaft 38 a sufficient distance, as seen in Fig. 11, to move the'shifty able bearing138 for the. purpose of disengaging the gears 133 and 134 and ythus breaking the operative connections between the driven shaft 49 and the conveyers 30 and 32.`

The elevati-ng gears 25a are driven from the two longitudinally extending shafts 60,'

as most plainly seen by reference to Fig. 9, these shafts 60 being provided with beveled gears 61 meshing with the beveled gears 25EL just mentioned. A vertical shaft 62 maaien drives the longitudinal shafts 60 through A the instrumentality of beveled gears and shafting 63, the upper extremity of this vertical shaft being provided with a beveled gear 64 meshing with and driven by the beveled gear 65 of the shaft 66 which is, with the other shaft before mentioned supported upon the upper frame 18 of the vertically movable carriage.

The shaft 66 has a friction gear 67 mounted thereon and adapted to be engaged by the friction gears 68 and 69 of the forward and reversing counter shafts 70 and 71, these counter shafts being provided with shiftable bearings 73 whereby the friction gears may be brought into engagement with the gear 67 to drive the same either in a forward or reverse direction, resulting respectively in the elevation or depression of the carriage and the several partscarried thereby. rllhe shafts 70 and 71 are connected to and driven from the main driving shaft 49 by pulleys 72 and belts 72a, one of which belts is twisted in order to obtain the reverse movement.

The shiftable bearing 73 controlling the upward movement of the carriage is pivoted to a lever 74 as seen in Fig. 5, to which lever the link 75 isv secured, the latter eX- tending to a suitable position, whereby it may be readily and conveniently engaged and manually operated to allow the carriage to be lowered as described. The other of the shiftable bearings 73 has a bell crank lever 76 connected thereto, the connection in question being accomplished by means of a slotted arm 77 of the lever and a pin 78 which rides in the slot of the arm, the pin being carried by the bearing. A bell crank lever 79 is connected to the bell crank lever 76 by a link 80 and is thus adapted to control the raising of the carriage.

The bell crank lever 79 is mounted upon the shaft 38 upon which is mounted the bell crank lever 142 before mentioned, and includes the wiper arm 81 arranged inthe path of movement fof the initial board of 'a tier so that as the same is moved across the car or truck 20 substantially as shown in Fig. 11, it will contact with and oscillate the bell crank lever 79 as seen in the figure last mentioned, and in so doing will actuate the elevating gears 25a and lower the carriage a distance equal to the thickness of one tierof boards and the spacing sticks between tiers. As clearly seen in Fig. 12, the wiper arm is permitted to assume its normal position as soon as the carriage is elevated above the tier of boards by means of which the same has been actuated, thus disengaging the gears 67 and 69 and preventing further movement of the carriage. A. spring 82 engages the bell crank lever 76 and provides for the return of the carriage elevating parts to the original positions as soon as the carriage has been raised suiiciently to allow the lever 79 to assume its normal position as just described.

Upon the completion of each tier, and during vertical adjustment under the automatic means before described, of the carriage, there are deposited upon the completed tier of boards, the spacing strips 83, disposed transversely thereacross substantially as shown in Fig. 12, the series of spacing strips so disposed, being adapted to receive the next tier; of boards thereon and maintain the same spaced above the completed lower tier. fn order to accomplish this in an automatic manner, the series of resilient members 84 are maintained in spaced relation in substantially 'the same manner as shown in our application before referred to, being secured to the cross beams 85 of the upper carriage lframe 18 in the present instance. These resilient members are arranged in pairs extending transversely of and depending from the upper carriage frame 18, and between each pair of the resilient members a series of the spacin strips 83 are piled as best seen in Fig. 2. plunger 86 reciprocat/es between each pair of these spaced resilient members 84, the series of plungers being formed at their upper extremities as rack bars 87. The longitudinally extending shafts 88 are provided with .pinions 89 whichmesh with and are adapted to reciprocate the plungers, by means of which the spacing strips are ejected from their containing receptacle formed by the resilient members 84 and deposited upon the exposed and completed ti'er of boards.

rllhe shafts 88 are mounted within bearings 90 and are provided at their extremities with beveled gears 91 meshing with and driven by beveled gears 92, the latter being secured upon a shaft 93 connected by gearing to a shaft 94 which receives its rotation from the shaft 66 through a chain 95, this chain engaging a sprocket wheel 66a on the shaft 66 as best seen in Fig. 9 and also en gaging a sprocket wheel 96 loosely mounted upon the shaft 94 as best seen in Figs. 5, 6 and 7, this last mentioned sprocket wheel having a friction disk 97 held in engagement therewith by the action of a spring 98 and provided with an aperture 99. ada ted to receive a locking pin 100 normally eld in engagement within the said aperture by y lll@ Mln

bell crank levers 79 and 142 vbefore mentioned so as to receive the foremost edge of thci-rst board of a tier, as it is moved substantially in a simultaneous manner against the three bell crank levers just mentioned, the action being to rock the bell crank lever 108 so as to withdraw the locking pin 100 from the friction disk 97. During this movement the movable fulcrum of the bell crank lever103 permits the same to disengage from the head 102 of the locking pin, permitting the latter to spring back under the e'ect of its spring-101 against the outer face of the friction disk 97 during the rotation of the latter,` actuation of bell crank lever 79 having in the meantime connected the gears 67 and 69 to start the vertical adjustment of the carriage. Thus as soon as the gear 96 makes a complete revolution, causing complete revolution of the shaft 94 and consequently a full stroke of the plungers 86, the locking pin 100 will again enter the aperture 99 of the friction disk 97, thus locking the shaft 94 against further rotation, frlction disk 97 being splined to the shaft. In this way movement of the plungers 86 is absolutely prevented beyond just the desired point to release a single spacing strip from each of the holders.

By reference to Fig. 10 it will be noted that the bellJ crank lever -108 is set slightly in advance of the bell crank lever 79 so as to insure removal of the locking pin 100 from the friction disk 97 before lthe connections are made Afor raising the carriage in the manner before described. From this it will be seen that the apparatus as thus constructed is entirely automatic in its several operations, it being only necessary to feed the lumber upon the conveyer 32 in the manner before described. In addition to this movement of the stack of .the lumber and the' car or truck 20 is obviated, thereby permitting the track upon which the same is mounted, to be continuous with the track leading to the kiln or other point at which the stacked lumber is to be utilized or operatedffupon.

1. A lumber stacker comprising aframe, intermittently operating delivery means for separately conveying sticks of lumber thereto, a transportable receiving device positioned within said frame, intermittently operating arranging means vertically adjustable in the frame with respect to the said receiving device for engaging the sticks of lumberone at a time as delivered to said frame and automatically piling the same upon said receiving device in orderly and spaced relation, means for automatically raising the said vertically adjustable means, driving connections for said intermittent, delivering conveyer, and means for automatically disrupting said driving connections -means for automatica when the said vertically adjustable means are raised.

2. An apparatus of the character described, comprising a carriage, means for raising and lowering the same, a lumber receivingcar below said carriage, an intermittently operating spacing and arranging conveyer above and across said car, and carried by and movable with said carriage for separately engaging and arranging lumber on said car,an intermittently operating delivering conveyer adapted to separately supply' lumber to said spacing and arranging conveyer, driving connections for said delivering conveyer, means controlled by the lumber for actuating said raising and loW- ering means, and means also controlled by the lumber for disrupting the drivin connections of the delivery conveyer uring raising movement lof the carriage.

3. A lumber stacker comprising a frame, a transportable lumber receiving device therein, intermittently operating means carried by said frame and adjustable verticallyI A tion across said receiving device and arrange the same in orderly, spaced relation, intermittently operating means for delivering lumber to the beforementioned arranging means and adjustable vertically therewith, and automatic means whereby to render the said delivering means inoperative during raising movement thereof.

4. An apparatus of the character described, comprising a vertically adjustable carriage, a lumber receiving car below said carriage, aspacing and arranging conveyer carried by and movable with said carriage above and across said receiving car for spacing and arranging lumber upon the said receivin car, a delivering conveyer adapted to supp y lumber to said spacing and arranging conveyer, driving connections for said delivering conveyer including relatively adjustable vgearmembers, driving connections for raising the carriage, also includin relatively adjustable ear members, an

t(lily controlling the said driving connections including levers arranged in the path of movement of the lumber in said spacing and arranging conveyer, connected to the said driving connections of the delivering conveyer and the raising means, the said lever of the delivering' conveyer operating to disengage its shiftable gear members when actuated and the said lever of the raising means operating to engage its said gear members when actuated.

5. A lumber stacker comprising a frame, a car within the frame, a stacking carriage adjustable vertically in the frame above. the car, an intermittently operating conveyer A, carried by and adjustable with the said-car. 1n l memes arranging boards in tiers, and means for feedmg spacing strips upon each tler of.

boards, including magazines for holding the strips, means for periodically feeding strips from the said magazines, and an automatic check for said feeding means whereby to positively limit each feeding movement.

7. A lumber stacker including means for arranging boards in tiers, 'and means for feeding spacing strips upon each tier of boards, including magazines for holding the strips, means for periodically feeding strips from the said magazines, and automatic checking means including a driven shaftv y connected to the said feeding means, a friction gear non-rotatably connected to .the

shaft and through which it is driven, and means for automatically locking the shaft after each single rotation thereof.

8. A lumber stacker including means for arranging boards in tiers, and means for feeding spacing strips upon each tier of boards, including magazines for holding said strips, means for periodically feeding strips from the said lmagazines, and automatic checking means including. a driven shaft connected to the feeding means, driving means for said shaft including a loose friction wheel, a friction wheel in engagement with the first Wheel, said second friction wheel being non-rotatabl mounted on said driven shaft and provide with an aperture, a spring actuated locking pin normally en* gaging within said aperture whereby to lock the driven shaft and the second friction y wheel against rotation, and automatically controlled connections for momentarily withdrawing said locking pin whereby to permit a single rotation of the driven shaft.

eno. A. Bn. ran-nu v. 

